


Side By Side

by van_daalen



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-12-11 09:04:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11711208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/van_daalen/pseuds/van_daalen
Summary: There's something between the two of them, of course, but neither of them really know how to put it into words... and so they don't. At the end of day, all they can say is that there's no one else they'd rather have by their side.





	Side By Side

    “East, on the ridge, red top,” Boone murmurs, binoculars still pressed to his face, refusing to let himself blink. Not yet- it won’t be long now, anyway. There’s a little hum from his side, a soft acknowledgement, then the slightest noise of clothes shifting. He almost grins when the sound of breathing halts. Less than a second later he hears what he’s been longing for; the sweet, sweet sound of a powerful rifle launching a bullet into the distance. Still, neither he nor his partner allow themselves to breathe again. Not yet. Not until he catches sight of the Legionary’s cranium collapsing, the body slumping, tipping, falling into the canyon. Part of him swears he can hear it when it lands, despite the distance. Pride fills his chest, heart skipping a beat for the hell-of-a woman lying next to him, and he says the two words that he knows will cause the same reaction in her. “Kill confirmed.”

They breathe out, together, and let that be the only sound they notice for another minute. Everything else is naught but silence- just as they are accustomed to. Because nothing else matters. As long as they hear each other, as long as they know that they’re still side by side, everything is okay. Boone can focus on scanning for targets, and Amodrea can ready her rifle. Maybe at some point they’ll switch places, as they sometimes do, but for now they’re content with this. Neither of them were used to being able to trust someone else the way they trust each other, of course, and yet it still felt natural to them. They both knew that the other was more than capable of completing their task, both knew that they hated the Legion more than most, that they could trust the other to stay with them through the task.

“Sun’s going down. Esker’ll probably be here any sec,” Amodrea whispered, voice dry, barely able to bring herself to break that sacred silence. She knows that the two of them might not speak until their next shift together, that Boone is still getting used to being able to talk to her whenever he wants. It was never easy for her to announce the approaching end of their time together. Still, it was easier than what followed, resisting the urge to ask him to stay with her, to maybe just silently share a meal, or keep watch for an hour or two, or do  _ anything _ , as long as they were still side by side. But she knows that he’s not ready for that. There are still too many ghosts in his past, and far too many of them remind him of her. What they have, what she cherishes in that moment, is already so much more than he ever thought he’d be okay with.

And, really, it’s more than she ever thought she’d get.

**Author's Note:**

> Done for a writing challenge on tumblr, Day 4: Something you don't ship.


End file.
